Auction Results: Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks, April 19, 2016 @Swann

The results from Swann Galleries’ recent photography sale were diversely solid. Led by respectable outcomes for all of the top priced lots, a number of positive surprises in the vernacular and unknown maker categories, and an overall Buy-In rate of roughly 25%, the Total Sale Proceeds settled into the middle of the aggregate pre-sale range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 321
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1099600
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $1617700
Total Lots Sold 240
Total Lots Bought In 81
Buy In % 25.23%
Total Sale Proceeds $1262525

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 298
Total Low Lots Sold 22
Total Low Lots Bought In 76
Low Buy In % 25.50%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $1196700
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $932215
Mid Total Lots 23
Total Mid Lots Sold 18
Total Mid Lots Bought In 5
Mid Buy In % 21.74%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $421000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $330310
Total High Lots 0
Total High Lots Sold NA
Total High Lots Bought In NA
High Buy In % NA
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $0
Total Proceeds from High Lots $0

The top lot by High estimate was tied between five lots, all estimated at $20000-30000. All five lots found buyers, with the results as follows:

Lot 24, Lehnert, Landrock, and Bougault, Exotic scenes of Algeria, 1890-1915, sold at $58750, top outcome of the sale (image in preview post)

Lot 37, Alfred Stieglitz, Wet Day on the Boulevard, Paris, 1894/1897, sold at $27500 (image in preview post)

Lot 55, André Kertész, André Kertész: Photographs, Volume I, 1913-1929/1973, sold at $21250

Lot 168, Robert Frank, Welsh miners, 1951-1953/c1970, sold at $18750 (image in preview post)

Lot 180, Ormond Gigli, Girls in the Windows, New York City, 1960/later, sold at $52500

79.58% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 24 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate). These can be divided into several groups including vernacular imagery (lot 249 Pop Photographica, lot 250 Felines, lot 252 Middle East, lot 258 Cyanotypes/Engineering, lot 259 Commercial Trucks, lot 263 Industrial, lot 267 Crime – Young Offenders, and lot 272 Byron Studio) and 19th and early 20th century works by unknown makers (lot 4 Folk Art, lot 7 Nude, lot 8 Children, lot 10 Civil War, lot 11 Confederacy, lot 14 African Americana, lot 16 African Americana, lot 18 Victorian Viewer, and lot 33 Tintypes). The positive surprises in fine photographs and photobooks were as follows:

Lot 1, Anna Atkins, Asplenium Fragrans, c1853, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $15000 (image in preview post)

Lot 225, Mary Ellen Mark, Pinki-Shiva Ji and Laxmi, Great Royal Circus, Junagada, India and Acrobats Rehearsing, Great Golden Circus, Ahmedabad, India, c1989, estimated at $3000-4500, sold at $11250 (image above via Swann)

Lot 228, Dennis Oppenheim, Accumulation Cut, 1969, estimated at $6000-9000, sold at $23750 (image in preview post)

Lot 287, William Mortensen, Selected Quatrains from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam with Camera Projections, 1925, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $17500 (image above via Swann)

Lot 288, Eugène Atget, Atget: Photographe de Paris, 1930, estimated at $500-750, sold at $2340

Lot 298, Daido Moriyama, Shashin yo Sayonara, 1972, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5200 (image in preview post)

Lot 305, Lisette Model, Lisette Model, 1979, estimated at $1400-1800, sold at $5250 (image above via Swann)

As an aside, all three lots we featured in the other lots of interest category in our preview post (Atkins, Oppenheim, and Moriyama) had positive surprise outcomes.

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Send this article to a friend

Read more about: Lisette Model, Mary Ellen Mark, William Mortensen, Swann Auction Galleries

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

Recent Articles

Reality Reframed: Recent Works by Todd Gray @The 8th Floor

Reality Reframed: Recent Works by Todd Gray @The 8th Floor

JTF (just the facts): A total of 15 photographic works, installed against white walls in a series of connected gallery spaces. (Installation shots below.) The following works are included in ... Read on.

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter